i bred my hamster lastnight at 11pm i know quite alot about it but there is one problem i know everything other than the signs of pregnancy what day of pregnancy will i know and what will the symptoms be

the dad is long haird he black and white and the mum is short fured and she like baige and white is there any sort of particular nesting i need at the mo i useing like this cotton stuff is that wright ?

um, I would take out the fluffy cotton wool stuff, it is very dangerous if swallowed, sometimes fatal. And you don't want it wrapping around tiny limbs and cutting off blood flow either.

Plain old white toilet paper is best, make sure you give Mummy Ham lots of it, so she can shred it up and make a nest. Toilet paper is designed to dissolve if wet, so it is perfectly safe if swallowed or pouched. Don't give coloured or scented stuff though! most of us on here prefer Tesco or Sainsburys Value Loo Roll, you can't beat it for hamster bedding!

On another note, make sure you have spare cages ready, the babies can't live together for long! (My two were 6 weeks old in the pic below, they were seperated the day after this pic was taken).

You could take the house away as well, and a wheel if she has one (although wait until you know for sure she is preganant, you don't want to deprive her of her wheel!) but if the litter is large, the little house might be too small, much better to allow her to build a large nest herself.

You can give squares of paper, personally I unwind arms lengths at a time, tear in two and give my hamster these, but it does not matter because your hammy will decide how she wants her bedding anyway! Just be very generous with it, especailly as the nights are getting colder anyway!

I know you are worried that she might cull the litter, but sadly it often unavoidable. How old is your hamster? Young Mums are more prone to culling because they can't cope, bless them. Sometimes, Mothers will cull babies because there is something wrong with them that the human eye can't see. The best age to breed is between 6 months old and one year. After this age, birth becomes more difficult. Although I am sure one of our breeding experts will be able to advise better than me!

erm she is 9 weeks old so not very old :/ so i take it i got be prepared for her eating them i hope she can cope ive been wanten breed hamsters for a while i read lots of books and that but it dont give you everything does it as soon as i done it once ill know then all day she been staying in her house i dont know weather they act wierd when like they 1st preg like 1st day but norm she out and in of her house all day and out on her wheel by now but she in the house alseep still

is there a percifc way of holding herwhen i clean the cage out i dont want to stress her out even more

being that she so young is there any way of makeing it easyer for her???

The general rule is to breed a female hamster for the first time between four and six months. Nine weeks is very young. After the first litter, you let her rest at least three months before breeding again, and most females become infertile by twelve months. I use shredded Kleenex for nesting material all the time. You will want the cage cleaned out a couple of days before the litter is due, then give her lots of extra toilet paper so she can make her huge nest. Extra deep shavings or Carefresh would be good too. In nature hamsters burrow, so she will like some substrate to dig into.

Change the bedding now, the fluffy is just as dangerous for Mum as it is for pups. And if your male hamster is also using the fluffy stuff, take it away from him too and replace it with lots and lots of toilet roll paper!

yes sadly pets shops and manufacturers brand it 'safe' or 'snuggle' bedding But if swallowed, it entwines around organs and can result in a painful prolapse and death. Paper based bedding is much safer because it will dissolve if swallowed.

I hope the pregnancy & birth go well for Mercedes, she is very young so do prepare yourself if she decides to cull some or all of the babies, it is natures way. But I have fingers crossed for you all! Hopefully you will see a healthy lot of wriggling pinkies! Remember to leave Mercedes in peace, only going near the cage to feed her and change the water. In the breeding section there is a link to what foods to feed a pregnant hamster, as she will need more protein now. It is important not to handle the babies before they open their eyes at 2 weeks old, before this time, a bit like birds, if a hamster smells human on the babies, she may cull them.

Sorry it all sounds a bit negative doesn't it? I don't mean it to, I am just trying to relay what I have learnt about breeding from the experts on this site!

If you have done lots of reading up as you say, you would have known that 9 weeks is much too young to breed a female. She is only a baby herself and I would hope that she isn't pregnant being young could mean her being more prone to problems in the birth and her not able to cope looking after them as she is so young herself.
Females should be bred at a minimum of 4 months old depending on her size and condition and any reliable source would have told you that.

However, what is done is done and she may well be pregnant. As others have said, the fluffy cotton wool bedding is very dangerous and needs to be taken from them straight away. At day 14 you should do the final cage clean, make sure to remove the exercise wheel as this can become a danger, I would also remove the little house and give her a pile of bedding to make a nest in, the small house will be too cramped for her to raise a litter in (if she chooses to use it) and condensation can build up in it.
I do hope all goes smoothly for her but that for her sake she isn't pregnant. It concerns me that you said both hamsters have white on them, any chance you could post a better photo of Mercedes, breeding two patterned hamsters of an unknown background can cause eyeless white babies.

It is very important not to disturb the litter or nest in any way, as Rolo has said if your scent is on the babies or the nest she will see it as a predator and is likely to cull them so remember to only go to the cage to put food and water in and try and resist peeking at the babies, they will soon be out and wandering around. They should not be held until their eyes open usually at around 15/16 days old.